CLOSED: Impressive "sheet" of insect eggs on tropical plant leaf

This is a small leaf on a hoya staying outdoors for the summer - I am in southern NJ - can anyone tell me what type of insect laid these eggs? I am guessing some sort of moth. Should I remove and destroy them or leave them alone?

yeah, you should see it in person. Kinda creepy. Last time I saw eggs like this it was on a branch and they were light green....I happend to look at them one day as they were hatching and there were little tiny green worms. That is why I am thinking moth or something like that.

I can't believe my camera captured such detail, I take millions of pictures of closeups of flowers, and they all come out fuzzy. I take one single picture of something kind of gross and it comes out in wonderful detail. Story of my life.

Can you spare that leaf? I would put it in a jar and watch to see what hatches. You're probably right, and to let them hatch would be quite destructive to the Hoya. But I think you're as curious as I am!

I got rid of them, but would still like to know what they were....was going to remove the leaf and put it in a jar and let them hatch to see what they grow up to be, but I figured they'd just hatch into larvae and considering all the stages larvae go thru before becoming what they are, it would take too long! And then I would be worrying about them getting enough food and water etc....who needs it? I have my own pets, and no interest in being responsible for baby bugs.....God forbid I get attached and wind up wanting to keep them all.....

I have the option to just keep watching because they are out in the forest. I've watched the eggs hatch. The larva seem to increase in size very fast especially if they are caterpillars or moths. It's harder to find the chrysalis, sometimes they are very strange. This is where I lose them if I haven't ID them. But there sure were many new moths and butterflies for me this year. Look babies not from the eggs on the leaf I posted here.

Well, I find that very interesting, because I found my eggs on a hoya leaf and hoyas are in the milkweed family. The thing is, hoya leaves are thick and hard, not soft and flexible...the larvae would have quite a time chewing on one, if they could manage at all!

Mgarr, you are not too far from me either, we probably are considered to be in the same area geographically, I am less than 20miles east off Philadelphia...thanks for the pictures, great shots...keep your eye on those other ones, I am dying to see what they are!

mgarr, I hope you posted those to bug files. It is important to have the different stages of the caterpillar's life doucmented. There are so few books that even address this.... Hence, no place to go to when we are trying to ID those little guys. And you have some great photos!

I went back this morning and the little dears were starting to "hatch". Bugs creep me out! But I'm finding them so interesting. The picture isn't so clear. They are very small. This is not a millkweed leaf. It is a bittersweet leaf.

I've found a strand of singly layed eggs on my brug's leave this morning. I'm thinking, hummm,....well don't know what to think since I don't like to see anything at all on my brugs other than its fabulous blooms. If I were to try to collect them, will they likely require the same food when they hatch? (My brug's leaves?). How do I keep them? In a jar? ceejaytown, help please.

They'll likely require the same food. You could try something else in the Solanaceae family - to see if they'd switch, but I wouldn't count on it. Can you get a photo of the eggs on your brug? In a jar would be my recommendation. Would hate to see something destructive spread out over the leaves of your brug.

We have to remember that there are bad guys out there that will eat your plant alive, and the best time to get them is when they are in the egg stage. Butterflies tend to lay eggs singly, while moths and sawflies often lay rafts of eggs. Chances are that we are watching one of those two. But since they're not on one of our beloved plants, we don't need to step in, and those photos are going to be such a wonderful addition to the data base...something we may not be able to find anywhere else.

I haven't downloarded my pictures but the new babies are all gone. We finally had rain and there isn't a one in sight. There are more eggs so I took the leaf and put inside my caterpillar display. I can't wait to see if any more hatched today. Oh! I did look for awhile to see if I could fine any babies on the ground. They were so tiny, I had no luck.

I am thinking that the original picture I posted was of moth eggs, I have a whole group of plants, including the hoya with the eggs on it, in an area right around my porch light, which is a very popular hangout spot for the moths, especially at night. Not sure what a sawfly is, and not sure I want to know, since flies in general kind of disgust me.

I don't think they are moth eggs. Very possibly eggs of an insect in the true bug family. But I'm not an expert and it is really hard to ID some of this stuff. Can we wait for the hatch?

Just a suggestion, but maybe if you backed up a bit for the photo and aimed directly at the eggs? We could then magnify it a little...Still probably wouldn't be able to ID it until hatch, but it would be great for documentation in BugFiles...

ceejaytown; once again, you did diagnose the correct eggs. I found the nymphs on these eggs today. They're milkweed-bug's nymphs! Found another trand just like it on my milkweed's seedpod, and the little, bitsy, tiny nymphs are gathering for a feast! Be back with its pic. in a little while.

Tsk,tsk! It was on the underside of the leave of the milkweed. Not the pod! Anyhooo, once again, I wasn't able to get a good pic. But! Now that I know what they're. They're not going to ride on my brug's leave! Hmmm, are these two plants in the same family? Or these guys are just nondiscriminating horder of any foodsource?